Tihidi: Even one month after the onset of monsoon in the state, Kharif farming activities in this block of Bhadrak district are yet to begin, primarily because of inadequate rainfall.
Additionally, the Dasamauja Canal, the only alternative irrigation source, has dried up. As a result, paddy fields in the block look parched with cracked soil, while the plants have turned yellow.
Even as the present crisis has caused despair among the farmers, it is feared that the situation will become worse if it does not rain significantly in the coming weeks.
Paddy is cultivated on around 20,000 hectares in the block. However, due to unfavourable weather conditions before Raja Sankranti, farmers were unable to prepare the fields. They could prepare the fields only after Sankranti. Some farmers even managed to prepare fallow fields for planting rice. It is learnt that around 4,000 hectares of land in various panchayats of the block have been prepared for paddy cultivation.
This year, farmers have sowed improved varieties of rice seeds which they purchased at Rs 750-1,000 for 20 kg pack. However, due to sporadic rainfall and intense heat, water is quickly evaporating from the soil, causing the fields to crack and the rice plants to turn yellow.
Importantly, the farmers are staring at a situation when they will have to irrigate the land by shelling out extra money if it does not rain sufficiently in the coming days. This is because it will be difficult to pull the paddy seedlings from moderately wet fields for transplanting.
The present situation has also raised concerns about a significant dip in rice production this year.
It is unfortunate that at this critical juncture water is not being released into the Dasamauja Canal to irrigate the fields, said farmers. They have urged the concerned authorities to pay attention to the pressing issue and do the needful at the earliest.
Meanwhile, Block Agriculture Officer Raghunath Pati said that the adverse condition from the beginning of the farming season has disappointed the farmers. “If there is no significant rainfall in the coming weeks, it will lead to a situation where paddy cultivation will be affected and rice production hindered,” he said.
PNN